The ‘3 Point Shot’ Was Made For J.T. Hoyng

(8-3-16) – J.T. Hoyng was in grade school when the basketball rules committee of the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations (NFHS) voted to put the 3-point sot in play for the 1987-88 season. Ten years later Hoyng would put himself in the record books, both in Ohio and Nationaly because of that 3-point line. To make it even better he would share an OHSAA DIII State title at Sparta Highland, along with his Sophomore brother Seth and his dad, Mike who was his head coach.

“I believe the thing that drew me the most to the 3-point shot was the impact it could make in a game and, for me personally, it was a great to compete against more athletic opponents. The game has become so physical and athletic that if not for the 3 it would have made shooters like myself not nearly as effective or dangerous on offense.”

“It is hard to imagine playing without the 3-point line because my generation grew up with the line. I would definitely think we would have had to tweak the way we played because the 3-point shot was an integral part of our offense.”

Hoyng is also listed as one of thirteen players in the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations reord book to hit 16 or more 3-point field goals in a game in the history of the shot.

In the 1998 DIII State Title game Indian Hill Coach Dale Haarman said:

“We had the kid five feet behind the line and he still hit them. What can you do? They probably should have counted some of those as four points. It was just an outstanding effort.”

Hoyng (6-foot-3, 160-pound) set the Division III title-game record at that time with eight three-pointers and 36 points. Hoyng, was the DIII OHSAA State Co-player of the year, was 8-of-13 (.615) behind the line. In 2013 TJ Metzger of Ottawa-Glandorf hit 9 3-point shots vs Versailles and now holds the record.

Video Recap of 1998 State Semifinal Game

The Mercer County Family Tree

The Mercer County ‘bloodlines’ run deep in J.T., his dad Mike graduated from Fostoria St. Wendlin in 1967, after that the Hoyng family moved back to Coldwater. One of his brothers, Tim, was the Cavaliers Head Football Coach for a short stint and also was an assistant after that for many years. His sister, Karen, who has worked at Celina Schools for many years, married Tom Knapke (they broke the mold after he was born) and several of their kids had wonderful athletic careers at Celina. Sorry I know we are missing some of the Hoyng’s, but in Mercer County you only need a start of the family lines to get started.

Mom, Carla, is the daughter of Harold and Liz Drexler, Grandpa Drexler would always make the drive to see the grandkids play, even snow storms wouldn’t stop him. Carla went to IC and moved to Celina High in 1972-73 after IC closed. Her brother Jerry played Basketball for the Spartans.

So the formula, a little bit of Coldwater, add some IC and mix it with green and white and you end up with one of the best 3-point shooters in the state of Ohio.

His dad and coach, Mike, is in several coaching Hall of Fames and had a great coaching career: